Assur

Assur was the capital of the Assyrian Empire from 2025 BC to 608 BC, built on the west bank of the Tigris River in present-day northern Iraq. It was built in 2600 BC, and it passed under the rule of several empires, including the Medes, Persians, Macedonians, Seleucids, Parthians, the Zengids, and the Ilkhanate. In 257 AD, the Persian emperor Shapur I captured and sacked the city, destroying it and causing its abandonment. Its final abandonment occurred in the mid-14th century, when the Central Asian conqueror Timur massacred its population. Following the start of the Iraq War in 2003, the historical site was repeatedly threatened by war, and the Islamic State destroyed its citadel in May 2015 and failed to destroy its main arches during its retreat from the city in December 2016.